Day In The Life: The Buzz on Chris Benz

“Bill Blass was about a woman who was aristocratic, off- beat, independent with a bit of tongue-in-cheek,” he declares. “The way I see her now is all of those things, plus she’s on a plane—she uses a mobile—and she buys pieces that are spirited, but [versatile]. I see a lot of humor and cool attitude in the way woman are in real life, which I don’t see conveyed in the fashion world. Fashion is either dark and stoic or too high glamour. I think there is a cool way to speak to our consumer and make clothing that is witty and sophisticated. At Bill Blass it’s all about cool, comfortable American chic,” he says.

“My role here is different than when I headed my own label where I had to do everything from fixing someone’s mouse to remerchandising the line. Now I can flex my muscles in a way that is the most creative and put my best talents to work,” says Benz, who oversees all social media, marketing, PR and of course design. It’s the 360-degree approach minus all the boring stuff like shipping,” he says. His days revolve around the November launch of the site. For now it’s all work all the time, but it’s definitely a labor of love. Haute Living talked to this socially-connected fashion aggregator about his typical day.
6:00AM I get up early to take my dog Rudy out for a walk— he’s 85 pounds of muscle. I get coffee at Brooklyn Roasting Company and get a kick out of seeing the mopey customers sitting around waiting for their coffee. I drive to my office on 27th Street in my black Fiat, which sets my day on the fast track. [My team and I] sometimes think of Bill Blass and Fiat similarly—we are both iconic brands that have relaunched, or are getting ready to. It takes fresh, forward-thinking ideas to bring them to life.